Pregnancy brings with it a host of challenges for most women. One of the most challenging aspects for many is that pregnancy suppresses your immune system. This is a good thing because it protects the baby from being “attacked” by your cells as a foreign object, but a bad thing because it can make you more apt to catch a cold, the flu, or any other sickness.
To make matters worse, you can’t take much of anything when you get sick.
So what are you supposed to do? One of the best answers to this is to do everything you can to keep your immune system strong. The more you can do to avoid getting sick at all, the better.
Here are 5 ways to help boost your immune system while you’re pregnant:
Eat Healthy
It’s extremely important to eat a high-protein diet with lots of fruits and vegetables during pregnancy. Also, keep sugar and processed foods to a minimum because these will suppress your immune system even more.
Exercise Regularly
This is probably a no-brainer, but exercising regularly helps to keep your weight gain at a healthy level. It also keeps your blood pressure from getting too high and keeps your body strong so you can fight illness better.
Get Lots of Sleep
Sleep keeps your energy up and helps your body fight off infections. So you should sleep. A lot. Naps are very beneficial whenever you can sneak one in.
Supplements
Three important supplements you can take in addition to your regular prenatal multivitamin are: vitamin D, zinc, and folic acid. These three all help fight off infection and lessen the severity of various illnesses too.
Laugh and Cry
Hormones cause your emotions to go from one extreme to the other when you’re pregnant, but it’s important to let those emotions out. Holding your feelings in can actually be detrimental and affect your physical health as well as your emotional health.
Read more about What to Eat (and What Not to…) During Pregnancy.